On her first episode of the I AM BIO Podcast, Dr. Michelle McMurry-Heath speaks with Dr. Tal Zaks, Chief Medical Officer of Moderna. He answers questions on everyone’s minds: how the biotech company took a COVID-19 vaccine to trial so quickly, how they select trial participants, and most importantly, whether or not he thinks the vaccine will work.
As we reported last week, BIO member Moderna became the first company to bring a COVID-19 vaccine to a Phase 3 clinical trial, which will test for safety and efficacy in 30,000 people across the United States.
Everyone wants to know—will we ever get a COVID-19 vaccine? Dr. Zaks thinks yes. Moderna has been able to leverage its mRNA technology to develop a vaccine and begin trials much faster. “But it's not just about the speed to start. It's actually also about your ability to then scale up manufacturing and production,” he said.
But, really, how did Moderna move so fast? There are two factors: Moderna’s platform, and the fact that the pandemic allows them to test the efficacy of a vaccine much faster and easier than for diseases that aren’t as widespread.
How do they select trial participants? They first look for people who are most likely to benefit from the vaccine because of where they work or live, or people who are more likely to get sick from the virus.
And because COVID-19 disproportionately affects communities of color, they’ve also worked to make the trial more racially diverse—by committing to transparency and clearly communicating what they’re doing and why, as well as collaborating with community organizations.
You’ll want to listen to the whole thing to learn how Moderna’s platform works, how companies choose or exclude patients from trials, how to overcome the legacy of the Tuskegee experiments, and how to use data to persuade those with vaccine hesitancy.
Listen now at www.bio.org/podcastor wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple, Google, and Spotify.